


Getting to Know You

by Wildwood



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Bruce is a bit OOC, Family, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-17
Updated: 2014-03-17
Packaged: 2018-01-16 03:12:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1329691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wildwood/pseuds/Wildwood
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Young Dick Grayson is the newly adopted ward of billionaire Bruce Wayne, however he see's little of his new guardian. Thankfully a determined bulter hopes to bring the two together so they can bring life back to the manor. Officially a one-shot, but might add multiple chapters. AU where Bruce acts his age as a young man whose adopting a kid.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Getting to Know You

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place a month after Dick Grayson becomes the ward of Bruce Wayne, he has no idea that his new guardian is Batman.

"What are you working on?" Bruce looked down from his chair towards his young ward whom was aimlessly kicking a paper ball alongside his office. He let out a slight sigh, how did Alfred think bringing the child to his office would be beneficial for either of them? Dick was obviously bored, and Bruce had his own work to catch up on for the company.

" _Master Bruce, it's been nearly 37 days since you've acquired young Master Dick and yet you have kept yourself distant. Take him to your office one of these days, get to know him. I can only imagine what the young Master is thinking since the man who went to the trouble of becoming his guardian has been treating him as if he is nonexistent. Please, do take some time out of your busy life and allow the lad in."_

_Batman looked up from his computer monitor, studying the butler as he spoke. "Alfred," his voice was low and steady, "It's not that I'm avoiding the boy, it's just," he paused briefly, monitoring what he should say, "I don't know how to take care of a kid, how I should act, what to say. It's so…foreign to me." For once Batman was perplexed about how he should approach his ongoing mission; becoming a father figure. While he would never take the place of the boy's biological father, he'd hope that he'd be able to guide the boy to a positive life despite the tragedy that had occurred. "Plus, he can't find out about Batman, Alfred. He has to be protected from all of this." Bruce's mission was to shield Dick from the hurt that still governed his city. At the expense of protecting the boy, he grew distant, focusing on capturing the boy's parents' killers._

" _Master Bruce, while I understand being a parent can be a scary thing, even for Batman, it is by upmost importance that you take hold of the responsibility you wanted and attend to your ward. You might think that it would be more beneficial for him if you stayed a distance away, but sir, you are gravely wrong." The butler's voice took a rare sharper tone, a disappointing edge slithered into his expression. "Be as it must to not introduce young Dick to Batman, please allow him to understand Bruce Wayne. Get to know the child. You'll never understand how to interact with him unless you try." Without waiting his charge's response, Alfred briskly walked up to the entrance to the cave and disappeared into the manor._

At the memory Bruce placed his pointer finger and thumb at the bridge of his nose, massaging it roughly. While he agreed to let the child come to his office, Bruce hadn't expected it to be today. Today when he and his subordinates were getting ready for a presentation illustrating the benefits that Wayne Electronics has had on the lesser technology accessible countries of the world, hoping to get a few more donors to help fund the ongoing advancement of developing countries. Suddenly a sharp tug at his suit pulled his attention to the young boy who had moved beside his desk.

"I said," Dick exclaimed a little louder. "What are you working on?" Bruce hesitated before looking down at his work papers with suspicion, contemplating on how much detail he should tell the boy. Surely, he'd probably think his work was boring and he'd doubt Dick would really understand much of it anyway.

"Work." Bruce said dryly, not really meaning to sound as harsh as he meant, he winced at his own words. "Umm, just a presentation for a few potential clients next week. You wouldn't be interested." He eyed the boy who looked briefly into his eyes before re-averting his gaze forward.

"Oh." Dick mumbled while retreating back to his lone chair at the corner of the room. Letting out a sigh he looked up at the ceiling.

"This is boring." He proclaimed with a groan. Bruce began frantically tapping his fingers at his desk, pretending to study his charts and graphs.

"I can call Alfred to take you home," Bruce offered, in a slightly hopeful tone.

"Nahhhhh." Dick looked down at the crinkled paper ball he was playing with earlier before bending down to start playing with it again. "I'd just be bored back at the mansion anyways, there's nothing to do there." The paper ball flew up in the air before spiraling downward, landing briefly in Dick's hand before he threw it in the air again.

"I can buy you some more toys," Dick let forth a grimace before shaking his head. "It's okay, you've…you've already done enough." Bruce let a confused look peak out from his normal neutral expression, he wasn't quite sure if Dick meant he already had enough toy's or if… Bruce let out another audible sigh, _this was not working._ All he wanted was to take a few hours to work on his neglected company in peace, but now he had to entertain a young 8 year old while simultaneously question if he'd done right by the boy when he decided to take him in. Dick would never again live a normal life, he wouldn't have a mother to baby him nor a father who was overly affectionate. While Bruce did want to be there for Dick, he was never a very warm person and doubt he'd ever be the parental type.

A half hour passed before either of them spoke again. The only noises in the room consisted of Dick lightly playing with the paper ball, and Bruce's quickly typing on his laptop. It was Dick who finally broke the silence.

"Batman is such a stupid name." Bruce quickly shot his gaze at his ward who was still mindlessly staring up at the ceiling. Juggling at the idea if he should respond, Bruce decided to ask for a clarification.

"Pardon?" He spoke lightly. Dick glanced over at his guardian and shrugged his shoulders. "It's just kinda stupid if you ask me. The person, whom I assume is a man, dresses up as a bat. Batman? Very creative." Dick rolled his eyes at the sarcasm, not realizing the humor he caused to play on his guardians face.

"What would you have named him then?" Bruce asked with honest curiosity. It took Dick a few minutes to really think about his options.

"The Demonic Emperor Blood Bat of Darkness the 3rd." He stated with a nod. "It's cool, dark, and mysterious. Plus it has the word 'bat' in it, so if the guy really wanted to let the media know he was trying to look like a bat they wouldn't mistake him for something else." Bruce tried to suppress his urge to laugh, but was desperately failing.

"That's…some name alright." Shaking his head, he chuckled at the thought of Batman even saying that long phrase, let alone proclaiming it as his name.

Dick let out a smile, proud of his new name for Batman, before continuing chatting at his newly attentive guardian. "What's up with his obsession with bat's anyways?" He exclaimed while shaking his head. "I mean they aren't even scary! Sure, I get the whole nocturnal thing but they don't really seem creepy to me." With his expression becoming serious, Dick's brows went forward and he sneered. "Monkey's on the other hand…."

Bruce looked at the new expression at his ward's face, "Monkey's?" he stated, silently asking for more information.

With a sigh Dick got up from his chair and went to stare out of the large window on Bruce's left, eyeing the small cars and people down below.

"Back at the circus…" he softly stated, "There was an animal trainer named Zambi. He raised a lot of the animal's that we had like our two elephants and Shu-Shu the lion. One day he wanted to purchase a baby chimp, but…" Dick's eyes remained stern and hard at the upcoming memory, "but they didn't have any left. Instead, he got an older chimpanzee named Snickers. He was huge, and scary, and mean." Dick proclaimed while staring at Bruce who was listening quietly to his story.

"Snickers wasn't exactly easy to handle," Dick went on. "He bit Zambi almost daily during his training. Zambi didn't mind, he was used to it by now with all the other animals, but he said it would take some time before he was performance ready. I was a bit sad when he said that, because if the animals aren't performance ready Zambi doesn't let any of the other performers close to them. The thing is Bruce I really wanted to see Snickers cuz I've never seen a monkey up close before. And well," Dick scratched the back of his head, keeping his eyes focused on Bruce.

"You have to promise you wont laugh," he stated firmly. Bruce widened his eyes at the request and nodded. "Of course I wouldn't laugh at you." He said plainly. Dick shuffled his feet before continuing.

"Now keep in mind I was only 6. So…I wasn't really thinking about what I was doing. Zambi and my parent's had told me not to go anywhere near the animal cages unless one of them was with me but I just got so curious! I wanted to meet Snickers and thought that we could be friends, I was friends with all the other animals. I just wanted to make him feel included. This was when I hadn't started performing with my parents yet, so during the show when everyone else was busy I went over to the animal cages…" Dick bit his lip slightly while casting his gaze down, embarrassed.

"I went to Zambi's animal trailer and went to where they put Snickers. He was in a fairly large pen that had a rope and some bars for him to climb up on. I remember walking up to him amazed because all he did was stare at me. I had heard him screech before, he can be quite loud, but for some reason he remained quiet. Thinking we'd be fast friends, I walked up and put my face to the cage and just started talking. He slowly approached me too, and before I knew it he just started throwing something at me. I was so stunned I didn't know what to do! There he was one minute being all nice and friendly and the next he was shrieking and throwing….poop at me!" The look on Dick's face forced Bruce to harshly bite his lip, determined not to break his promise to the boy.

"I mean, I just stood there while he threw poop at my head! Zambi came to the room like five minutes later to see what Snickers was screaming at, only to find me covered in poop…" Dick's face blushed red as he stared back at Bruce. "I told you not to laugh!" He whined while casting a small glare.

Bruce shook his head, forcing his lips to stay at a neutral line. "I…I'm not laughing." He choked out while fighting his desire. Dick narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms disapprovingly. Fearing that he was losing the battle, Bruce brought his hand up to his mouth, pretending to cough while he struck out a giant smile, wiping his eyes quickly while refocusing his gaze at Dick.

"See, not laughing." He spoke while successfully retaining his blank gaze. Dick rolled his eyes and let his own smile play on his lips.

"Yeah yeah." He breathed. "I guess it is sorta funny if you think about it. Wasn't very funny at the time," he said while glancing sideways, "But I guess it makes for a good story nowadays. The point!" Dick exclaimed while enthusiastically waving his hands. "Is that monkey's are ten times more scary then bats. The end." Bruce thought for a moment before asking, "So, you think instead of Batman we should have a Monkeyman?" Dick firmly nodded.

"And his secret weapon would be…throwing poop at people?" Dick made a disgusted face at the mention of what abilities Monkeyman would actually possess. "Err…I guess…" He stuttered. This made Bruce break completely.

When Bruce's secretary came in with his and Dick's lunch, she stumbled on a sight that not many have seen before. There in Bruce Wayne's office was the owner laughing loudly, tears in his eyes, while his new ward was giggling beside him. Warmth filled her heart, she hadn't seen her boss so sincerely happy before that it was a bit overwhelming.

Realizing that she might have walked in on a private moment, she hesitantly gave a few knocks on the open door to get Mr. Wayne's attention. When Bruce found that someone was watching their little scene, he quickly calmed down and resumed a normal breathing manner.

"Thank you Carrie," he said while she handed him their lunches. Upon glancing down at the wrapped, cold, sandwiches he looked kindly towards Dick who was still letting out a few giggles.

"How would you like to go out for lunch?" He asked the child. A smile broadened on Dick's face as he enthusiastically nodded.

"But wait," he stopped while staring up at Bruce. "What about your work?" Bruce looked down at his discarded papers, that he had been neglecting for the past hour or so, and scooted them farther away.

"Screw it." He said nonchalantly while standing up to hand back the sandwiches.  
"We're going out Carrie, probably taking the rest of the day off too. Think you can cover for me?" He gave his secretary a half smile while quickly putting on his jacket and pulling out his keys. She smiled sweetly at the man and nodded.

"I think I can handle that Mr. Wayne. I hope you two have fun." Dick gave her a bright smile while following closely behind his guardian.

…

"In the mood for Italian?" Bruce asked while helping the boy into his car. Dick gave a unsure shrug while strapping in his seat belt.

"Like authentic Italian?"

"Well, the owners are from Italy so I assume it is." Bruce glanced back at Dick through his rear view mirror, just catching the frown that appeared on Dick's face.

"I don't like authentic Italian. Their pizza tastes funny." This made Bruce chuckle to himself as he noted the boy's pickiness. "How can you possibly not like authentic Italian?" he asked playfully.

Dick smiled before shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know. When we were in Venice to perform I couldn't eat any of their food. There's just something I don't like about it." Bruce nodded, accepting the answer.

"I'm fine with American-Italian food," Dick clarified. "But not like the super expensive kind where people brag at how it's directly from Italy and just because the people working there are Italian it automatically makes it better. They put weird spices on it…trying to be all fancy." Dick immediately bit his tongue, realizing that he might have inadvertently angered his host.

"So you like the cheap stuff?" Dick wrinkled his nose, trying to gage if what Bruce said was an insult or not.

"Yeah, the cheap stuff." Dick agreed. It was no secret that you didn't join the circus for the income, and Dick realized that what his family considered "a treat" might be considered as fast food to others. It didn't make Dick like it any less, however. It was his vision of comfort food.

Feeling like he unintentionally hurt the boys feelings, Bruce quickly said, "Why don't you pick a place that you like and we'll have lunch there." Dick's eyes grew a bit wide at the request, surely Bruce wouldn't want to go to where he had in mind.

"Anywhere?" Dick asked hesitantly. Feeling as if he should make it up to the boy that he'd been avoiding the past few weeks, Bruce quickly nodded. "Anywhere at all. Though, depending on the place we might not want to mention it to Alfred," he joked. Bruce had eaten at a large variety of places, especially in his college days, so he was sure that wherever the boy picked he'd be fine with. Alfred on the other hand was particular to the finer dinning experiences.

"Okay," Dick sat back thinking. "How about the Tiki Hut Pizza? At the circus whenever we performed in a new place we'd always order out and get some. I…kinda miss it," he added hesitantly. Bruce gave a soft smile, unsure if the boy could see it, and nodded. "Tiki Hut Pizza it is then." The rest of the drive to the pizza place was silent, both inhabitants unsure of how to start a conversation. When Bruce put the car in park, he breathed deeply.

"Something wrong?" Dick asked carefully. He didn't want to choose a place that Bruce absolutely detested. Bruce opened the drivers door and met the worried young eyes of his ward. "Nothing at all," he said reassuringly as he placed a large hand on the boys back, leading him into the restaurant.

They were quickly seated by a startled hostess, who probably didn't serve many people who arrived in suits, and left to fill their drink order. Thankfully the place was less crowded then Bruce had originally expected, giving the two of them a bit more privacy.

"What would you like to have?" Bruce asked as the boy continued to look through the menu. "Ummm…" Dick mumbled while flipping through, "do you want to share a pizza?" Bruce answered with a shrug, smiling down at the boy he had only a day ago been afraid to go anywhere with.

"Well, this place is called Tiki Hut Pizza, so sure we can share one." Dick nodded while continuing to focus on the countless pictures of pizza, thinking about which one to pick.

"But it has to have anchovies." Bruce said sternly while a shocked reaction from Dick made him silently snicker.

"Anchovies?!" Dick exclaimed.

"Yup." Putting a finger to his chin, Bruce looked thoughtful. "I'd also like mushrooms, spinach, eggplant, and pineapple." As each added ingredient left his mouth, Dick's jaw opened a little farther in shock.

"But pineapple's a fruit!"

"Yes it is, so?" The humor in Bruce's voice was obvious, but his young ward had no inclination of the fact.

"You just can't," Dick's gaze darted from right to left, confused as to why someone would put fruit on a pizza. "It makes no sense!" It was at that moment the waitress had come back with their drink order, providing the perfect opportunity for Dick to ask the most important question of the day.

"Why do you put fruit on a pizza?" The waitress looked questionably at the boy for a moment before cocking her head slightly. "What do you mean, hun?" Dick took a sharp breath inward, gazing up at the confused waitress.

"Pineapple." Dick said with a serious face. "Why would someone put…pineapple…on a pizza? They must be crazy right? Or just have some terrible opinions on pizza toppings." This proclamation made both the waitress and Bruce laugh slightly.

"Well," the waitress said while putting a finger on Dick's menu, indicated a certain pizza type. "This here is called a 'Hawaiian' pizza. It has pineapple, ham, bacon, and bell peppers. It's called a Hawaiian pizza because it's supposed to taste refreshing and, well, Hawaiian. You might not believe it but the pineapple pretty much makes the pizza, it's really good." She smiled down at the boy who still had a disgusted look plastered on his face.

"But it's…a fruit." Dick said, not fully understanding the purpose of the pizza. The waitress shrugged, getting out her notepad in the process and glancing at Bruce who was still slightly smiling.

"Some people like pineapple, other's like pepperoni. Everyone has different tastes I guess, perhaps when you're older you'd like to try it sometime." Dick gave a loud snort before forcefully closing his menu, handing it back to the waitress.

"No matter how old I get, I'll never like it." He stated flatly, looking at Bruce who had remained quiet. Bruce stretched his arms out slightly, eyeing the boy who was staring at him.

"What sort of pizza would you like, Dick?" He asked kindly. Dick glanced at the waitress and said, "I'll just have a cheese pizza please."

"Make it a large," Bruce added while handing the menu back to the waitress. She smiled at them both before scurrying back to the kitchen to fill their order.

"What about your anchovies and…fruit?" Dick asked with an uplifted eyebrow.

"I was just messing with you kid," Bruce said with a wink. "I mean, I don't mind those type of toppings on my pizza but today…cheese is perfectly fine by me. I haven't had it since I was a kid." Dick gave Bruce a brief nod in understanding before tapping his finger on the table, unsure of what the two of them should talk about now. A few awkward moments passed as each stared at one another for a beat, before averting their gaze elsewhere.

"So…in a few months you'll be starting school soon. Are you excited?" Bruce asked. The boy looked down and shook his head slowly.

"I don't want to talk about school." Was all Dick said before resting his chin on the table in a depressed gesture.

"Alright, no school talk." Bruce reassured while gently moving Dick's head upwards, off of the table. "If Alfred saw that, he'd be furious." He joked. "Plus…I'm not sure how exactly clean these tables are. It's best if you don't put your face and mouth on it, can't have you getting sick." Dick let out a sigh before nodding and letting out a small "yes sir" before planting his elbow on the table and resting his head at the base of his hand instead.

As an idea sparked Bruce, he imitated Dick, complete with depressed sigh. Dick stared back at him, curious as he raised his other hand slowly to find that Bruce had indeed been copying him. "What are you doing?" he asked the immature man.

"What are you doing?" Bruce responded, a smile pecking at the corners of his lips. Dick let out another sigh before planting his head down at the table, curious to see if his guardian would do the same. To his surprise, Bruce in response leaned down and laid his head towards the side, staring back at the giggling Dick. As he smiled at the boy Bruce inwardly grimaced, hoping neither of them catch any germs. The next few minutes consisted of Dick making awkward, childish faces at his guardian while Bruce copied each gesture, ignoring the obvious stares from the other side of the room.

"Dur dur duuurr," Dick said while going cross-eyed, pulling his eyelids down so the pinks under his eyes showed. The billionaire playboy, without hesitation, copied the gesture and even added his own flare by sticking his tongue out at the boy who couldn't hold in his laughter.

"I like raisins and smelly feet!" Dick exclaimed while excitedly laughing at his guardian.

"I like raisins and smelly feet." Bruce said, a little more quietly then Dick had previously yelled. The boy let out more giggles while thinking about what else his guardian should exclaim to the world.

"I wear girly underwear to bed and still need my nightlight!" Bruce gagged at Dick's words, staring questionably at the young boy. Oh no, he was not just about to lose this game.

"I…I wear girly underwear to bed and still need my nightlight." Bruce repeated, carefully looking over to see if anyone else heard what he just said. The image of Batman saying these things caused the man to snicker at the ridiculous situation he was currently in.

Dick continued to laugh while staring at the horrific expression on Bruce's face, he had to give the man props, he could be kinda fun. Just when Dick had opened his mouth again, the waitress with a large cheese pizza returned with their order. Placing it carefully down on the table she asked if either of them needed anything else. A slightly longer pause followed, until Bruce said they were fine, allowing her to go back to the kitchen.

As Dick was picking up his chosen pizza slice, he smiled triumphantly up at his guardian. "I won." He exclaimed before taking a giant bite of cheesy pizza. Bruce rolled his eyes while getting his own, placing it carefully down on his plate.

"That didn't count." He said while eyeing the ravenous boy. "Might want to slow down there chum, the pizza's not going anywhere." The boy with pizza sauce already covering his face looked down, embarrassed. "Sorry," he said while putting his pizza down and getting a napkin. "It's just so good! I haven't eaten like this in a long time." Bruce took a few small bites of his own slice, wow, he'd forgotten what pizza chain pizza taste liked. Before he finished with his first piece, he plopped another slice down on his plate.

"Do you not like the food at home?" Bruce asked, wondering if the boy's pickiness had affected any of his meals that had been served at the manor.

"Oh, no I do!" Dick said while again chomping down his meal. "It's just, I guess this is my form of comfort food, ya know?" A sad, small smile was shown to the boy as the owner gently nodded. "I understand." Bruce said while attending to his meal.

The boys ate in silence, totally focused on the goodies on their plate. By the end of the meal, there was only one slice left and a very full Dick and Bruce.

"Why don't you go ahead and eat the last one." Bruce said while rubbing his stomach, how was he going to move to get back to his car? Dick let out a groan and shook his head. "I'm fuuullll…." He moaned while rubbing his eyes, focused to stay awake.

"We can't take it with us, Dick." Bruce said while taking out his wallet to pay for the meal. "Evidence."

Dick let out another exasperated moan while looking at the slice. "We can't just leave it! It would be such a waste." Bruce averted his gaze from the dough that was calling his name, fully knowing that if he succumbed he'd be sorry in a few minutes.

"Dick, I can't." Bruce said with a little moan of his own. Noticing Dick's eyes were still resting on the lone pizza slice he covered it with a napkin. "Don't eat it if you're not hungry," Bruce said, shoving the pizza away from their views.

"Should have told me that three pieces ago," Dick's eyes continued to droop while he mumbled to himself.

After paying and thanking the waitress Bruce sluggishly got up from the table, stretching his leg muscles awkwardly. "Come on Dick, time to go home." He said to the sleepy child full of pizza. Dick slowly got up, grumbling a bit, and sleepily followed his guardian out the restaurant and towards their car. After Bruce helped Dick get settled in the back seat, he entered his own and quickly started to drive the car home.

Ten minutes later, Bruce was greeted with the light snoring of his ward who was passed out in the back seat, oblivious that they had finally arrived back at the manor. Carefully not to wake the sleeping child, Bruce unbuckled him and brought him into his arms cradling him carefully. As if having a sixth sense that his charge's were home, Alfred opened the door before Bruce was fully up the steps. He smiled back at Alfred who had a pleasant look on his face, proud that his mission to bring the two together appeared to be successful.

After placing Dick gently on the couch, Bruce went to work to remove his shoes. Meanwhile, Alfred had gathered one of the many blankets in the room and had draped it snuggly around the boys waist, ever so slightly moving him so he was in a more comfortable position. After seeing that the boy was fully comfortable, both men headed towards the kitchen for a quick chat, making sure neither would wake the child.

"I take it you had a good time? I surely hope the boy didn't fall asleep from boredom, Master Bruce." The younger man smiled before shaking his head. "We had a good time," He reassured. "It was actually…sorta nice."

"Sorta nice, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked, a bit skeptic at the man's choice of words.

"We went out for lunch," Bruce explained, stifling a yawn before subconsciously patting his stomach. "The kid's cute." A smirk played on Bruce's lips while he poured himself a glass of water. "I can sorta see myself...being there for him. I mean, like a real friend and maybe even a parent. Not just the protector I originally wanted to be. It's…scaring the heck out of me Alfred, but it's also exciting."

"As it should be sir," placing a hand on Bruce's shoulder, he gave it a quick reassuring squeeze. "Don't take the job of being a parent lightly, Master Bruce. It takes great skill to raise and care for a child. But," he added while making sure his charge understood his words, "I know you can do it. You can be a great guardian for this child if you open up to him, allow him to take a peak into your life. Together the both of might grow fond of each other." Bruce slightly looked away, nodding.

"I'm already fond of him Alfred." A full smile rose to his lips as he recalled their short time they spent together.

"I'm glad sir, and I'm sure he's fond of you too." Alfred was proud to see happiness come back into Bruce's life, and he was even more ecstatic that the stubborn man was in fact embracing it. Nodding one last time Bruce looked back at his old friend and stepped back, letting out another yawn.

"I think…I'm going to join Dick and take a nap." Bruce said, stretching out his arms while looking behind him to face the butler.

"As you wish sir, shall I wake the both of you at 4?"

"Sure," Bruce said noting the time. "Oh and Alfred, feel free to make a late dinner tonight. We're both pretty full from lunch." Alfred gave a smile before nodding in confirmation.

"Oh, and Master Bruce?" Bruce looked back before exiting the kitchen, eyeing his friend.

"You have some tomato sauce around your face. I assume the pizza was to your liking?" Embarrassed, Bruce quickly wiped the sauce away, sneering at the fact that it was his fault they we found out. Knowing full well that he wouldn't be able to lie to the butler he nodded.

"It was good." He stated plainly. "We'll have to do it more often. For Dick," he clarified. "I think it made him feel more…comfortable. Having something familiar like that cheered him up a bit I think." The butler gave a nod, he wasn't about to take that away from the boy.

"Very well sir, we'll put it in the monthly dining calendar. More specifically the day's that I'm free from cooking, if that's alright Master Bruce. And don't expect me to partake in this particular cuisine." A tired laugh erupted in the room while Bruce agreed.

"I understand, Alfred." With one more smile, he left the butler and headed over to the still sleeping boy flopped on the couch. Sitting down gently, Bruce leaned back and let out a tired sigh. As he felt his eyelids grow heavier he studying the boy sleeping peacefully next to him.

For the first time since his parent's had been killed, Bruce Wayne fell asleep with a smile. 


End file.
